Automotive Industry Trends: IoT Connected Smart Cars & Vehicles

Companies are pouring money into the Internet of Things, and one area of particular interest to investors is IoT connected cars.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, expects 94 million connected cars to ship in 2021, and for 82% of all cars shipped in that year to be connected. This would represent a compound annual growth rate of 35% from 21 million connected cars in 2016.

Automakers have correctly noticed a growing trend and a significant business opportunity for connecting their cars. BI Intelligence expects 381 million connected cars to be on the road by 2020, up from 36 million in 2015. Furthermore, BI Intelligence forecasts that connected cars will generate $8.1 trillion between 2015 and 2020.

But it won’t just be car wi-fi that changes the automotive industry. Public transportation, such as buses and trains, will also transform thanks to the IoT. Subway cars in New York City, for example, will start to have chargers, built-in Wi-Fi, and security cameras, according to the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Still, connected cars will be the bread and butter of the Internet of Things automotive industry. Below, we’ve compiled a history of the growth of the IoT in transportation and outlined how the “Internet of vehicles” will surge in the coming years.

Evolution of Vehicles
The first true technological leap forward for cars came in 1911, when automobile companies began installing electric starters into vehicles, according to Mashable. The cigarette lighter arrived in 1925, the radio in 1930, power steering in 1956, the 9-track player in 1965, the cassette deck in 1970, and air bags in 1984.

But the true driver conveniences started rolling in after that. Compact disc players started popping up in cars in 1985, followed by dashboard computer diagnostics in 1994 and GPS navigation systems in 1995. Then, in the 2000s, cars started to feature USB ports and Bluetooth connectivity, the later of which was the true precursor to the connected cars of today.